Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,29

It was only after.”

Her face heated. “Are you okay?”

My brows rose. “That’s one of the things that I’m supposed to be asking you, isn’t it?”

She flashed me a quick grin, then immediately followed it up with a massive yawn.

“I should go.” She sighed. “It’s probably a good thing this date didn’t go as planned. I have one more day until Delanie gets home, and that means that I have to deal with the kennels once again tomorrow morning.”

I caught her hand before she could so much as move.

“You’ve already taken care of them tonight, haven’t you?” I asked curiously.

She pursed her lips. “Yes.”

“Then stay here,” I suggested. “You can sleep here, I can go with you tomorrow morning. Help out.”

She pursed her lips. “But what about Asa?”

I didn’t like her hesitation.

“My son’s going to have to get used to you being here,” I said. “I just… this wasn’t a one-time thing, Dillan. This was an all the time thing. He needs to get used to you staying here. Because I want you here. All the time. Whenever you want to grace us with your presence.”

Her face literally glowed with my words, and I felt like a complete heel that I hadn’t taken the steps earlier.

I’d wanted her for what felt like forever.

Why had I waited so long?

“I have to get there pretty early,” she whispered. “We usually have a caretaker come over in the mornings and walk them all, get them cleaned up, and get them into their outside kennels. But I gave the teen that usually does it for us the day off so he could attend his sister’s christening. So I can’t stay here much past eight.”

I tugged her pants leg, urging her toward me.

When she came, I gathered her up into my arms and then leaned back so that I was against the couch arm.

“Watch some television with me before we go to bed,” I ordered.

“No dinner?” she asked teasingly.

I pinched her ass. “You know damn well how awful I do with puke. He may be feeling better right now, but I highly doubt that luck holds.”

She moved until she was comfortable in the crook of my arm, her face pressed against my neck.

“You never know,” she said. “Sometimes life gives you exactly what you need. Not necessarily what you want.”

“Are you saying that I need poor control when it comes to bodily fluids and throwing up?” I laughed.

She shrugged. “Maybe. You never know.”

We stayed like that for what felt like hours until I reluctantly set her up off of me.

“I have a spare toothbrush in the first drawer in my bathroom,” I said. “And you can go check on Asa if you want. I have to make the nightly rounds to make sure everything is locked up tight.”

When I finally found her again, she was climbing between my sheets with her sweatpants on.

I didn’t bother to try to convince her to sleep in the nude.

I knew that she wouldn’t go for it, and with Asa being sick, there really was no telling whether he would stay sleeping all night or wake up with his tummy ache.

So I didn’t blame her for wanting her clothes on just in case.

After brushing my teeth and finding sweatpants of my own, I walked back into my bedroom to see Dillan laying on my pillow on my side of the bed.

I momentarily froze as I saw her.

How many times had I yearned to have her there? How many times had I thought about how it would feel to have her where she was always supposed to be, knowing she was safe? Knowing she was happy?

I had no idea how good it would feel—the happiness pouring through my veins.

“Whatcha doin’?” I asked huskily.

She looked up, startled to find me standing there.

“Oh.” She smiled then. “I was reading. I went and checked on Asa. He’s asleep in his bed. He’s curled around his bowl. And he’s not running a fever or anything, so I think you should be good for a little while.”

One could only hope.

I hated when my baby was sick.

I felt inadequate and weak when I couldn’t fix it.

She tensed slightly when I came closer, her eyes opening wider.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I tugged back the covers on the bed.

She licked her lips as she watched me climb into bed next to her.

“I’m nervous,” she admitted.

I chuckled. “That makes two of us.”

After reaching over to plunge the room into darkness, I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized